Such a Nice Old Man
by IncomingAlbatross
Summary: The travels through time and space of a certain renegade Time Lord, and the Question left behind him. "That was the Doctor? But he seemed like such a nice old man." Formerly entitled The Curator, now a place for my drabbles and short oneshots (mostly Eleven right now). New chapter: Memories - a moment from "Deep Breath".
1. The Curator

**A/N: So, this will probably make no sense if you haven't seen or read ****_Shada _****(the novelization of which is actually really, really good), but it was just something I wanted to see in the special. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, especially since this is my first story here.  
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**Summary: After the events of DotD, the Doctor has a question for Clara. Be warned, massive spoilers for Day of the Doctor.  
>Time: Immediately post-DotD.<br>Character(s): Eleventh Doctor, Clara**

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><p>So, ah, Clara," the Doctor began. "You said you, ah, talked to the Curator?"<p>

She eyed him curiously, twirling her hair in her fingers. He was even more fidgety than normal, and doing a _very_ poor job of hiding a grin.

Of course, maybe that was because he'd just been relieved of the crushing, centuries-old guilt and anguish of having wiped out his own race. (And honestly, though she's aware of how ridiculously unfair she sounds, how _dare_ the Time Lords push him that far? Didn't any of them consider the burden they were forcing on him? And okay, yeah, definitely being ridiculous...but _seriously!_)

But anyway, fidgety Doctor asked her a question. And he seems to actually be waiting for the answer, as opposed to having moved on to fifteen other things after asking it.

"Well, it was more _he_ talked to _me_, I suppose. Looking for 'my friend the Doctor' - mine, not his, I mean. We did talk a bit, though." (Actually, some of the things he said - well, most of them - seemed a bit odd. Not "cryptic clues to save the universe with" odd or "evil scheming alien" odd, just...normal odd? He was charming, though.) All in all... "He seemed like such a nice old man," she said absently.

A minute and a half of uninterrupted, uncontrollable laughter later, she was still wondering just what about that remark was so funny.


	2. Who Takes Care?

**The TARDIS considers something the Doctor said in "Amy's Choice."**** Inspired by a line in that episode that struck me as a little odd when I first heard it.**

**Time: Immediately after"Amy's Choice."  
><strong>**Character(s): The TARDIS  
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><p><em>"I choose my friends with great care."<em>

_You_ take care? Oh, of course you do, Thief. Because, clearly, _you're_ the one who's always decided who travels with us.

Oh, I'll grant that your opinions have some influence. But have you really forgotten how many you took on by "accident"?

I mean, honestly. Our Savage Girl was intelligent, but she hardly went through the whole dematerialization sequence by herself. (The Amiable One's clumsiness, of course, was entirely his own, and I only turned it slightly to my purposes. It was fortunate, though; Nerva needed you badly.)

And, of course, "detours" were also responsible for some of your friendships. I shudder to think how your Path might have turned out if I hadn't kept the two Teachers with us for as long as I did - or, for that matter, if I hadn't let you take them in the first place. (Though I probably wouldn't have kept them much longer. The Hurt One was about to join us anyway, and there was certainly no need to risk traveling in that awful Dalek construction.)

And then there was the Laughing One and her Stubborn Protector, and the Angry Girl (though that was half your fault). I would have kept our Explorer Girl, too, if I had had to, but I hardly had to try with her. It wasn't as though she ever really wanted to leave me.

How many of your friends have you really, deliberately chosen? (The ones you kidnap because it would be too inconvenient to let them go don't count.) I mean, there was the Young Rescuee, and our Steadfast One (a _very_ good decision there, Thief), and you and Exploring Girl both chose each other many Times when you could have left instead. And the Self-Seeking One - a slightly dangerous exception to my standards, but in the end, one that repaid both our gambles. And you have been seeking out company more, in general, since the War-Times.

On the whole, though, it is rather absurd to hear you claim credit for all of your strays' sterling characters. Even when you _are_ the one who brings them home, whether you realize it or not, _I_ am the one who lets you keep them.

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><p><strong>AN: Savage Girl is, of course, Leela; the Amiable One is Harry; the Teachers are Ian and Barbara; the Hurt One is Stephan, who goes through a****_ lot_**** in the show; the Laughing One and the Stubborn Protector are Polly and Ben, though I'm not really happy with Ben's name; Angry Girl is Tegan (not sure about that one either); Explorer Girl is, obviously, our Sarah Jane; Young Rescuee is Vicki; the Steadfast One is Jamie; the Self-Seeking One is Turlough.**


	3. Memories

**Still re-calibrating after his latest regeneration, the Doctor's memory is being rather difficult. It's not _entirely _uncooperative, though. Some spoilers for "Deep Breath."**

**Time: During "Deep Breath," in the restaurant basement.**

**Character(s): The Twelfth Doctor, Clara**** (sort of)**

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><p>This day could probably have gone better. The Doctor's not certain, of course, because he thinks he has a history of his days going just about like this. But on a normal scale? He thinks this one would be pretty far from good.<p>

He's in the middle of post-regeneration recovery, he's not sure Clara's past the "You're not the Doctor any more" stage yet, someone's torched a dinosaur in Victorian London...and the _eyebrows!_

Oh. That last one's probably not important, is it? He must have got distracted again. It'll be nice when he's a bit more used to the new body, one less tangent to go off on.

Also, he hopes his memories straighten out soon, they're all jumbled. (Granted, he knows who Clara is, a not un-noteworthy achievement at this stage. He's fairly certain he hasn't confused her with an old assistant once.)

But they're in the middle of some alien organ-harvester's larder (which _is_ more immediately important than his eyebrows or his accent, so, yes, stay focused), and the situation's bringing up lots of probably useful memories, and he can't grab hold of any of them.

"Droids harvesting spare parts, that rings a bell."

And it does, but there's also lots of other bells being rung by various other things, all clanging around together in his brain. It's making it very difficult to think.

He stoops down, trying to get a better look at the cyborg-thing.

Hmm. A man sitting in a fancy chair, hands on the arms, and the left half of his face all robotic... Another bell starts up in his brain, and for just a second, he gets an image of someone else. Another metal-faced man, in flashier clothes - he had a...robot parrot?

Yes! He manages to grab onto that, and pull it in, and _finally_ retrieves a semi-cohesive memory.

"Oh Captain, my captain!" he mutters. It doesn't satisfy the loudest bells, and it's not actually relevant, so he moves on. But it's a start.

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><p><strong>So yeah. I'm almost certain that last line there was meant as a <strong>**_Pirate Planet_**** reference. Possibly ad-libbed by Peter Capaldi, considering how little connection it had to the rest of the script.**


End file.
